Maintaining Grain Quality During Drying and Storage

William Wilcke, Professor
Nalladurai Kaliyan, Graduate Student
Vance Morey, Professor
Colleen Cannon, Assistant Professor, Entomology
Mario Carrillo, Graduate Student, Entomology

Funding Sources

Minnesota Agricultural Experiment Station; Anderson Research Fund

Objective

The overall purpose of our research is to reduce use of chemical insecticides for managing insects (specifically Indian meal moth) in stored grain.

Need or Impact

Stored grain insects cause significant losses of grain dry matter and grain quality. Chemical insecticides have traditionally been used to manage stored grain insects, but applying these chemicals is costly and can expose humans to health and safety hazards. Also, insects are becoming resistant to some of the insecticides and some of the insecticides are being phased out. In grain producing states that have low outdoor temperatures during much of the year (Minnesota, for example), it might be possible to manage populations of stored grain insects by appropriate use of grain aeration with outdoor air. Our research team is using long-term weather records, computer simulations, laboratory studies of insects, and field observations of insects to develop management recommendations that will help limit populations of stored grain insects without use of chemical insecticides.

Project Status

We are currently completing research and writing reports for a two-year project funded by the Anderson Research Fund. This research will form the basis for Nalladurai Kaliyan’s M.S. degree in Biosystems and Agricultural Engineering and for Mario Carrillo’s Ph.D. degree in Entomology. Results will be presented to other researchers at professional meetings and to farmers and agribusiness personnel at Extension workshops.